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Human Rights Research Series

The Human Rights Research Series’ central research theme is the nature and meaning of international standards in the field of human rights, their application and promotion in the national legal order, their interplay with national standards, and the international supervision of such application. Anyone directly involved in the definition, study, implementation, monitoring, or enforcement of human rights will find this series an indispensable reference tool.

The Series is published together with the world famous Netherlands Network for Human Rights Research (formerly School of Human Rights Research), a joint effort by human rights researchers in the Netherlands.

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Towards a Sustainable Human Right to Water is a timely examination of a critical and time-sensitive subject in the field of human rights law. The book poses the critical question how the concept of sustainable development can contribute to the sustainable realisation of the human right to water for vulnerable people. It takes a three step approach in providing an answer to this fundamental question of our time.

Advancing the Right to Health Care in China analyses the role of accountability, a Western concept that has recently been introduced to China, in advancing the right to health care in light of China’s unique political, legal and social background.

This book presents the first study on collective reparations. It aims to shed light on the legal framework, content and scope of collective reparations, and to the relationship between collective reparations and the individual right to reparations.

The International Criminal Court is neither able nor intended to investigate all situations of crisis across the world. Selectivity is unavoidable for the operation of this international organization. However, the authority of the Prosecutor of the Court to select and prioritize a situation over other situations is not unfettered.

Privacy as Virtue discusses whether a rights-based approach to privacy regulation still suffices to address the challenges triggered by new data processing techniques such as Big Data and mass surveillance.

Human Rights and Drug Control analyses a human rights interpretation of the international drug-control framework with an emphasis on advancing the access to controlled essential medicines in resource-constrained countries.

Dialogue is the new buzzword for the European Convention on Human Rights (Convention) system. Judges throughout Europe have welcomed and encouraged dialogue, and references to the notion have become commonplace at conferences and in academic writing. Yet although the buzz has intensified, exactly why dialogue can be of added value is not often examined. Nor do those who rely on the notion usually explain how exactly it can be operationalised i...

Within the European Union there is considerable diversity in morally sensitive issues like legal recognition of same-sex relationships or reproductive matters, such as abortion, assisted human reproduction (AHR) and surrogacy.

Disasters have a devastating effect on the lives of people. It is of essential importance that the response to a disaster is as effective and adequate as possible to limit and alleviate suffering. To this end, affected states can make use of offers of humanitarian assistance made by other states, international (humanitarian) organisations and NGOs. When in such cases the affected state refuses to accept international humanitarian assistance, t...

Should a politician be free to fiercely attack the religion of a sector of the population? Should he be allowed to strongly reject the culture of a particular minority group? Should religious adherents be allowed to advocate the transition from a democratic to a theocratic state? Should a satirical magazine be free to mock religious figures and practices? These sort of questions concern ‘the place of faith in public debate’ and continue to dom...

In the modern globalized world, so-called private military and security companies (PMSCs) are employed by a variety of actors in times of both war and peace. They are employed by, and perform a plethora of services for, not only international organizations, NGOs and multinationals, but also States. Given that there are still regulatory gaps in the national and international legal frameworks applicable to PMSCs and that the lines of responsibil...

This book studies the pivotal obligation to prevent genocide under international law and more particularly the extent of that obligation under the Genocide Convention and customary international law. The author puts forward a distinction between primary, secondary and tertiary levels of prevention.

Can human rights really protect people from want? If one is lacking medical care or housing, can one really go to a judge and ask for the provision of such goods and services? These questions have proved divisive for academics, politicians and judges working in the field of human rights. Some consider that there is no real difference between civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights. Others think that economic, social...

The number of international human rights treaties and monitoring mechanisms has grown considerably over the past decades. States are increasingly confronted with criticism as to their domestic human rights record. What is the effect of all these treaties, monitoring and criticism? Do they lead to changes and improvements?

Millions of people worldwide lack adequate access to medicines, particularly in developing countries. This book focuses on one aspect of access to medicines: the affordability of essential medicines, and its connection to human rights and patents.

Gender-based violence against women is a stubborn problem worldwide. This book explores the transformation of sex roles and gender stereotyping, and interrogates, in the specific context of Jamaica, the implementation of Article 5(a) CEDAW for a social and cultural transformation and the realisation of women’s right to be free from gender-based violence.

With the coming into force of the Treaty of Lisbon the competences of the European Union in the realm of criminal law have greatly expanded. The Union, in a multitude of legislative instruments, requires its Member States to criminalize a big variety of harmful conducts. Although the Union frequently refers to conduct, attempt and participation in its legislation, it fails to determine what these concepts should denote to. This book fills this...

It is increasingly suggested in literature that a right to unilateral secession, stemming from the right to self-determination of peoples, may arise as ultimum remedium in case of serious injustices suffered by a people. This book examines the conventional content and meaning of the right to self-determination and scrutinizes whether the various sources of international law disclose (traces of) a right to remedial secession.

Religious symbols have generated controversy in many circles, be they religious or secular, public or private, and within or outside academia. This book singles out a particularly contentious issue: religious symbols in public functions and focuses on the judiciary, the police and public education.

Contemporary multicultural issues in Europe raise the question whether the overlap between the non-discrimination regimes of the European Union (EU) and the Council of Europe in the field of public employment may lead to conflicting case law. Would the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) address potential sex, race and religious discrimination in a similar manner or would the Courts take ...

The process of the transformation, reconciliation, development and reconstruction of South African society had not been finalised when the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the Amnesty Committee had reached the end of their mandates in 1998 and 2003 respectively. It is therefore imperative to implement measures to address "unfinished business" which should be approached in such a manner that the initiatives complement and build up...

In the past decades, the process of European integration has influenced all fields of law, and eventually also criminal law. European legislation now requires Member States to criminalize all sorts of harmful conduct but does not determine the full scope of criminal liability, omitting to define general principles of criminal law such as ‘intention’. This book aims to remedy this by establishing what mens rea and defences should look like in E...

Corruption currently receives an increasing amount of attention from scholars and practitioners in various disciplines, including law. While the phenomenon is as old as mankind, the last fifteen years saw the rise of many anti-corruption treaties, aimed at criminalisation, prevention and cooperation. At the same time, there seems to be relatively little work done on corruption in the field of human rights law or international criminal law. Thi...

The manner in which South Africa dealt with its past and the process of granting amnesty through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is generally considered legitimate. This is not the case, however, for many other amnesties granted in times of political transition or in post-conflict situations. National efforts to establish peace and democracy often clash with international legal demands. The core question of this study is what kind of a...

The right to equal access to health care is a fundamental principle that is part of the human right to health care. For victims of a violation of the human right to equal access to health care it is important that a judicial or quasi-judicial human rights body can adjudicate their complaints in this regard. This book analyses the justiciability of the human right to equal access to health care. It examines how cases concerning unequal access t...

In late 2010, the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED) entered into force. The present study addresses the question of determining state responsibility under the ICPPED, based on a framework that harmonises the protection afforded by this convention with the experiences of victims of enforced disappearance. The premise is that such an approach enhances the protection from this grave hu...

Criminal law on hate speech has become a hotly debated topic in the past decade. How to deal with hate speech in an increasingly pluralist society has become a pressing question. This comparative study deals with how ideas behind the law on hate speech and extreme speech in the Netherlands and England and Wales – including the influence of European and international law – have developed since 2001 and how this can be explained by reference to ...

Since the 9/11 attacks combating terrorism has gained top priority within Dutch politics. This book discusses the scope of the preventive-oriented Dutch anti-terrorism legislation and its impact on fundamental legal rights and principles of law as enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights. It analyses criminal liability for terrorist offences and discuses in particular the level of suspicion that is required to apply state powers to...

Under the influence of globalization many countries have been compelled to privatize the provision of a number of State and public services. This trend has been met with skepticism from the human rights world. In this study, the privatization phenomenon is analyzed with the aim of establishing whether it can be reconciled with the human rights obligations of States..

This book offers a rigorous, theory-based, and uniquely comprehensive, analysis of European and international legal standards shaping minorities’ right to freedom of expression. The analysis pays particular attention to the instrumental role played by traditional and new forms of media in ensuring that the right to freedom of expression of persons belonging to minorities is effective in practice.

Fundamental rights provisions are known for their relatively vague and general formulation. As a result, judges dealing with these provisions are confronted with many and often controversial interpretative choices. These interpretative choices already present judges operating in a national context with difficulties, but that is even more so for European judges of the ECtHR and the CJEU. This volume analyses the use legal interpretation methods...

Based on an analysis of the newly-adopted UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and present-day interpretations of international and European human rights instruments, this book seeks to define a contemporary disability human rights approach for the field of employment.

In early 2006, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights called for more detailed research into the relevant international standards and national and international practices concerning the role of victims in criminal proceedings. In response to this call and the increased attention paid to victims at international criminal institutions, this study explores the role of victims in international criminal proceedings.

The infamous abduction of Adolf Eichmann in Argentina on 11 May 1960 and the recent kidnapping of suspected terrorist Abu Omar in Italy on 17 June 2003 show that the use of irregular means was and is still considered an option in apprehending suspects, especially when the interests are (considered to be) strong. This study’s central question is how the ICC currently copes with the dilemmas that a male captus case can give rise to and how this ...

This book analyses the practice of the General Assembly and the Security Council in combating terrorism. It analyses the adopted counter-terrorism measures of both organs in terms of their legality and legitimacy.

When people are forced to flee their country, their families fall apart. This also applies to the 37,000 Afghans who found refuge in the Netherlands. The qualitative research in this book among 37 Afghans in the Netherlands and their families gives insight in how these refugees (re)construct and perceive their family life within and across borders; at the nuclear family level, within the Western diaspora, and with family members who stayed be...

International human rights adjudicators, while facing urgent cases, have used provisional measures in order to prevent irreparable harm, e.g. to order States to halt an expulsion, the execution of a death sentence, destruction of the natural habitat, or to ensure access to health care in detention or protection against death threats. This book addresses the question how such provisional measures can be made as persuasive as possible.

Seeking to address the problem of corporate involvement in grave human rights abuse, i.e. genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, this study explores the desirability and feasibility of subjecting business enterprises to regulation through international criminal law.

‘Women’s rights are human rights!’ This notion may seem self evident, as the United Nations system for the promotion and the protection of human rights builds on the idea of equality in dignity and rights of men and women. Yet, as was convincingly showed by critics of this international system, it is not.

In an age of globalization, free trade should be synonymous with prosperity for all. Yet too often small farmers, indigenous peoples, people with HIV and others are left out of the picture. The Future of Human Rights Impact Assessments of Trade Agreements proposes a new way to make free trade work for all people.

This study explores the question of extraterritorial application of principal universal and regional human rights treaties. It covers treaties on civil and political rights as well as those on economic, social and cultural rights and seeks to determine to what extent and under which circumstances human rights treaties are applicable to state conduct which affects the human rights of persons situated outside the borders of the state party i...

The present volume deals with terrorism, both the legislative reactions to it and its impact on human rights. It is argued that the preservation of human rights is vital for the prevention of terrorism, encompassing state and non-state terrorism alike.

This book discusses the dynamics of civic-state interactions aimed at the state’s obligations to promote, protect and fulfil human rights. Through the lens of refugee rights advocacy in South Africa in the first decade of its post-1994 period of democracy, this book examines and explains the circumstances under which civic-state interactions can lead to structural change, and what these interactions can teach us about the potential of civic so...

While opening a new dialogue on the right to development as an instrument to combat development hazards, this book reveals the complex interface between human rights and development as actually practised.

Trade and labour are connected in many ways. One aspect of their relationship revolves around the question whether products that are made in violation of labour rights should be banned from the markets of importing States. In the negotiation process which led to the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO) this issue proved to be highly contentious.

This study is devoted to answering the question whether the international community now has the necessary tools at its disposal to respond effectively to the issue of statelessness. It investigates in detail both the (enduring) value of the two tailor-made statelessness conventions, as well as ascertaining what other areas of international law – in particular human rights law – have to offer in answer to the phenomenon of statelessness.

It is estimated that at least one million children are deprived of their liberty worldwide. This book provides a systematic and comprehensive study of the implications of International Human Rights Law and Standards for children deprived of their liberty. It addresses the legal requirements regarding arrest, detention and imprisonment of children set by international and regional human rights treaties, in particular the UN Convention on the Ri...

This research aims at determining criteria for regulation of freedom of expression exercised on the internet, allowing a “fair balance” between that freedom and other competing interests. It will hopefully benefit lawyers and courts which have to deal with an increasing number of cases involving online speech. It can also assist legislators when they consider adopting or amending legislation regulating online speech, potentially preventing the...

This book represents the first effort in assessing the role and contribution of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in interpreting and developing rules and principles of international human rights and humanitarian law.

The loss of one’s house is often one of the most dramatic personal consequences of armed conflict. In fragile post-conflict societies such a loss does not only cause a flow of refugees and other displaced persons, but it can also be a source of renewed conflict. Restitution of housing could help to solve these problems and thus help to attain peace and to rebuild the rule of law. This study focuses on the legal aspects of restitution.

This study evaluates how human rights reform was implemented within the Costa Rican police. It explores the following questions; is there a relationship between the implementation of formal human rights law and changes within the social systems in which law enforcement officials operate? Which socio-political and institutional factors relate to the implementation of human rights within the national police system and the urban police units? Are...

The purpose of this study is to examine how, and to what extent gender may have a negative impact on the realization of women’s right to adequate housing and to discuss ways and means to level this barrier. The right to housing is approached in a holistic manner, and the indivisibility, interdependence, and interrelatedness of all human rights is stressed.

When discussing the Netherlands’ international human rights policies, the first aspects to come to mind are usually those related to how it addresses and reacts to concrete human rights violations by other countries. In fact, there sometimes appears to be a tendency for public opinion to identify a government’s human rights policy with its attempts to pursue human rights issues in its relations with other states. An important element of the Ne...

This study investigates the so-called “thematic approach” as a method available to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to take cognizance of and to react upon violations of human rights worldwide.

This study is based on the following questions: Which jurisdiction can and should be exercised for the prosecution of individuals responsible for gross and serious violations of human rights? And especially, in this regard, what is the role of universal jurisdiction?

During recent decades, levels of global wealth have grown at an impressive rate but at the same time inequalities in wealth distribution and the gap between the rich and the poor have also increased significantly. While some people take the enjoyment of comforts made available by technological advances for granted and consume goods and services at a rate unimaginable even just a few decades ago, for the majority of humanity such developments a...

Present-day circumstances pose profound new challenges to the effective protection and promotion of human rights. Traditionally the analysis of human rights is focused on the relation between the State and the individual. However, as a result of globalisation corporations at times have a more far-reaching impact than (some) States on the well-being of many citizens. This raises questions regarding the responsibility and accountability of corpo...

The international criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda and the International Criminal Court all need the assistance of States to function effectively. This book aims at determining the content of the duty of States to co-operate with the existing international criminal tribunals in the field of evidence gathering.

Many people do not consider the right to property a human right. Property rights are more often seen as a source of controversy. This study intends to contribute to improved understanding of the right to property as a human right. It analyses the characteristics of the right to property. It tries to answer the question as to what extent the right to property is a social human right.

Traditional practices (such as female circumcision, various birthing methods and early pregnancy) expected of, and maintained by, women in sub-Saharan African continue relatively unabated. So, too, does the harm these pose to women, including increased risks of maternal mortality, reproductive ill-health and transmission of HIV/AIDS. Human rights standards and discourses have been used as a means towards their end. This study seeks to establis...

Religious persecution is a worldwide phenomenon. Acts of intolerance, discrimination, and persecution based on religion or belief have become part of our daily life. Believers of every faith, including Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Jews and Hindus in many parts of the world, face serious discrimination, restrictions and sometimes severe persecution for practising their faith. This study focuses on internal persecution among Muslims

Since the 1950s, the Netherlands has seen a steady growth of non- governmental organisations (NGOs) devoted to the cause of human rights. In the ensuing decades they proliferated and expanded their leverage. At the same time, human rights attained a more secure position on the foreign policy agenda of the Dutch government. Against this background the question arises, to what extent foreign policy¬-making in the field of human rights is determi...

Since the 1990s, a ’human rights clause‘ has been included in all economic and cooperation agreements between the European Community and third countries. This study focuses on the legal aspects of the use of the human rights clause as a basis for restrictive measures in case of human rights violations by a contracting party.

In this book, the author comes to the conclusion that “eventually freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief may be the best instrument against a world governed by sheer materialistic forces: it is now more than ever relevant to protect and encourage further development of Man’s conscience”.

This book discusses the common ground between the protection of freedom of expression in English law and under the ECHR against the background of the incorporation of the ECHR into English law in the Human Rights Act 1998.

Many states feel an obligation not only to respect human rights themselves, but also to pursue human rights issues in their relations with other states. Human rights are very much on the international political agenda. Little is known, however, about how much one state can influence another state to improve its human rights record, and which factors make such influence attempts more or less effective.